Keep up with what's happening in the Australian Real Estate Industry

Monthly Archives: September 2013

ELEANOR HALL: The Reserve Bank board today joined global financial authorities in issuing a warning about low interest rates having the potential to fuel a property price bubble. In the minutes from its September meeting, the central bank mirrored today’s IMF warning and last week’s caution from the local regulator APRA that banks need to be vigilant about their lending standards. The RBA has also warned about potentially risky property investments in self-managed superannuation funds....

THEY say you can’t sell a secret, but some scenes are best kept hidden, especially when selling real estate. A goat tied to the clothes line, dirty dishes throughout the kitchen and grotty bathrooms – these all sound like scenes from a reality TV show about hoarders, but in fact all these “special” features have popped up in “unreal estate” listings online. Real estate commentator and host of Selling Houses Australia, Andrew Winter, said great photos...

I didn’t plan to grow up to be thirty-five, single and living in a share house. Like many kids growing up in the suburbs I assumed I would grow up and buy my own home. That was before property prices went insane, the GFC happened and my long-term boyfriend turned into an ex. Things did not turn out how I had hoped they might but for years I lived in rented share houses stroking the...

What will it take for the real estate industry to be satisfied? It’s doubtful there’s been a time in the past 10 years when the industry has had it this good. Interest rates at historic lows, sales volumes rising, housing finance increasing month by month, building approvals trending strongly upwards, grants and stamp duty concessions to people building new homes, affordability the best it’s been since 2003 and confidence rising – it’s an almost perfect...

The number one goal for every savvy property investor would be to sell your property and make a profit. What happens when your property has been on the market for awhile? We speak with real estate agents, property photographers and property stylists to gather their opinions on why your property might not be selling, and how you can improve the chances of a sale. Just Think Real Estate’s licensee in charge Edwin Almeida told Property...

Thousands of Sydneysiders are unknowingly risking fines by opening their homes as short term rentals without seeking council consent. NSW councils are grappling with how to manage the growing market for private short term holiday letting, which is expanding through social websites such as Airbnb. The City of Sydney has warned an individual could face a $750 fine for renting out their property without council approval. ”The City’s Local Environment Plan does not permit mixing...

THE Victorian government has released its vision for the Fishermans Bend precinct, with long-term plans for the urban renewal project including two underground train stations and the extension of the Collins Street tram over the Yarra River. The industrial area abutting Southbank and across the river from the Docklands has been earmarked for five new residential suburbs housing up to 80,000 people and will become the workplace for 40,000. A mixture of low-density, medium-density and...

Australia has more than 150,000 sites that are potentially contaminated with toxic waste, and experts say that only a tiny fraction of them are being cleaned up to remove the risk to human health. Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation, Professor Ravi Naidu, told ABC’s The World Today that most of the sites are in urban areas and pose a serious threat to human and environmental health. “Australia has 160,000...

HOME buyers are willing to look beyond the condition of a property if it is close to their most sought-after amenity – schools. The buying rule of real estate has long been location, location, location but a new survey reveals that today’s more precise property guidelines are school, work and transport – but exactly what kind of homes Australians are buying is taking a back seat. Research commissioned by Slater & Gordon Conveyancing found Australian...

A HOUSE made almost entirely of recycled materials has sold for $1.27 million after its savvy owner converted a plain two-bedder into a four-bedroom masterpiece. Electrical engineer Paul Young poured his heart and soul into the project, at 59 Binalong Ave, Allambie Heights, after buying it as pole house in 1990. “I’d always been interested in building from recycled products,” Mr Young said. “Houses get knocked down and they have nice timber, which could be...